Every Game From Super Regionals and Women’s College World Series Televised

ESPN will cover every game from all 16 Regionals of the NCAA Division I Softball Championship for the first-time ever, resulting in up to 112 games on an ESPN network between Thursday, May 18, and Sunday, May 21. This season’s expanded Regional round coverage, combined with the continuation of ESPN’s long tradition of televising every Super Regional and Women’s College World Series game, results in ESPN carrying every game of college softball’s month-long postseason tournament for the first time ever.

“Adding complete coverage of the Regional round is another sign of our commitment to college softball and another way we are serving the fans,” said Dan Margulis, senior director of programming and acquisitions. “We have been working towards this goal in the last several seasons, including covering 12 Regionals each of the last two years. This season, we are thrilled to cover all 16. Providing fans a platform to watch every game from the regionals, super regionals and the WCWS is the culmination of our extensive history with the sport and its Championship.”

In addition to this season being the first year that every regional is covered, it is the 17th and 11th consecutive season, respectively, that every game from the WCWS and the Super Regionals is televised.

The 2017 NCAA Division I Softball Championship FieldThe NCAA Division I Softball Committee determined the field which was announced during ESPN’s NCAA Softball Championship Selection Special Presented by Capital OneonSunday, May 14. The top 16 teams are seeded and serve as hosts for the regional round, playing at their own campus sites.ESPN will carry the games across a variety of its networks — ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, SEC Network, and Longhorn Network. Each regional is a four-team, double-elimination tournament, concluding with one team advancing to the Super Regionals and reducing the field from 64 teams to 16 in the process.

The SEC received the most bids (13), for the third consecutive year, followed by the Pac-12 (8). Three teams are making their first appearance in the tournament: East Tennessee State University, Montana and Saint Francis (Pennsylvania). Only 12 schools have been crowned the NCAA Division I softball champion since the tournament started in 1982, and all 12 will compete in this year’s bracket. The complete 64-team bracket can be seenhere.

ESPN AnalystsESPN’s softball analysts include accomplished former college, Olympic and professional softball players:

Honors: As a Division I coach at Michigan, Purdue, and Louisville, achieved more than 700 combined wins; All Big-Ten and All-Mideast Region as a player, inducted into the Iowa Softball Association Hall of Fame (1997)

Honors:National Player of the Year (1996) and Women’s College World Series MVP (’96) Four-time National Champion, winning three as a player (1993, ’94, and ’96) and one as an assistant coach, also with Arizona (1997)

Bases LoadedReturnsFor the third consecutive year, ESPN’s NCAA Softball Championship Regional coverage is supplemented with aBases Loadedviewing option — look-ins to multiple live games throughout the day while also recapping the entire tournament up to that moment..Bases Loadedwill be seen on its own channel on linear television and streaming on ESPN3.ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will also air it throughout the weekend at various times. A complete Bases Loaded programming schedule will be available soon.Matt Schickwill host andKayla Braudwill provide the analysis.

espnW.comespnW will have wide-ranging coverage of the entire 2017 NCAA Softball Championship hosted on its softball index. Highlights include:

Comprehensive Recaps:Graham Hayswill provide daily recaps and analysis from the Regionals, Super Regionals and the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

Behind the Scenes Coverage:ESPN Covers Every Game from All 16 NCAA Division I Softball Championship Regionals For the First TimeFrom playlists to blogs, espnW will provide a unique look into the players’ lives off the field.

The espnW Player of the Year:The 2017 espnW Player of the Year will be revealed on the road to Oklahoma City.

Follow and Join the Social Media ConversationA number of social handles —@ESPNU,@espnW, and@NCAASoftball— will provide news, game updates, photos and videos throughout the championship. Fans can join the conversation by tagging their tweets with#NCAASoftballin the Regionals and Super Regionals and then#WCWSduring the Women’s College World Series.

Please Note: All games from the 16 regionals below will be shown on either ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ESPN3, or Longhorn Network. Currently, only Thursday and Friday networks have been announced. Please check espnW’sschedule and resultspage and the@NCAASoftballhandle page for updated schedule listings throughout the weekend.

Beth Mowens and Michelle Smith to Seattle. Wonder why they send the "A" team here?? Gotta be the seafood.__________________"Never argue with a fool, they will lower you to their level and then beat you with experience."

Right?? Also interesting that a game from College Station is being put on the Longhorn Network.__________________"Never argue with a fool, they will lower you to their level and then beat you with experience."

Perhaps they have basketball or something on Thursday night, but it seems a shame that they are relegating the Opening night of the playoffs to ESPN3.__________________"Never argue with a fool, they will lower you to their level and then beat you with experience."

The need for a Thursday bracket is because BYU being in the tournament. i doubt that is factored in when doing the scheduling for TV.

There are only so many games that can be played on ESPN, espn2 SEC, there were always going to be a number of regionals only available on the web, the contingency for Thursday play would have been to putvthat regional on the web. __________________And if I don't like what you say then...

Originally Posted by MadDogsDadThe need for a Thursday bracket is because BYU being in the tournament. i doubt that is factored in when doing the scheduling for TV. There are only so many games that can be played on ESPN, espn2 SEC, there were always going to be a number of regionals only available on the web, the contingency for Thursday play would have been to putvthat regional on the web.

They always have a Thursday-Sat regional. Last year it was in Columbia, the year before in Eugene. I guess the SEC Track championship is more of a draw on ESPN2 in that time slot. They are showing Softball conference championship re-runs on ESPNU and the Texas A&M spring footbal game rerun on the SEC network when they could be showing live a live softball game involving an SEC team.__________________"Never argue with a fool, they will lower you to their level and then beat you with experience."

They always have a Thursday-Sat regional. Last year it was in Columbia, the year before in Eugene. I guess the SEC Track championship is more of a draw on ESPN2 in that time slot. They are showing Softball conference championship re-runs on ESPNU and the Texas A&M spring footbal game rerun on the SEC network when they could be showing live a live softball game involving an SEC team.

Uhhhh BYU was at the Columbia regional and also at the Eugene regional the year before.

Common denominator. __________________And if I don't like what you say then...

ESPN’s coverage of the NCAA Division I Softball Championship continues with exclusive telecasts of the Super Regionals beginning Thursday, May 25, and continuing through Sunday, May 28, with up to 24 games from eight campus sites. The eight, best-of-three series will be televised across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU with the victorious teams advancing to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla.

ESPN CommentatorsESPN’s Jessica Mendoza, now a MLB analyst workingSunday Night Baseball, returns to ESPN’s softball coverage for the Super Regionals. Mendoza, who began her career with ESPN as a college softball analyst and has called the WCWS for a number of years, will work with fellow college softball analyst Michele Smith, play-by-play commentator Beth Mowins and reporter Holly Rowe in Los Angeles.

Softball analyst Amanda Scarborough along with commentator Eric Colllins will be in Gainesville, Fla., for the call of the SEC matchup between the Crimson Tide and the Gators. Mendoza, Smith, Rowe and Mowins will be paired for the Women’s College World Series, as well as Scarborough joining play-by-play commentator Adam Amin and reporter Laura Rutledge. The full schedule and production details will be announced next week.

Honors: As a Division I coach at Michigan, Purdue, and Louisville, achieved more than 700 combined wins; All-Big Ten and All-Mideast Region as a player; inducted into the Iowa Softball Association Hall of Fame (1997); NFCA Executive Director

Honors:National Player of the Year (1996) and Women’s College World Series MVP (’96); four-time National Champion; winning three as a player (1993, ’94, and ’96) and one as an assistant coach, also with Arizona (1997)

Follow and Join the Social Media ConversationA number of social handles — @ESPNU, @espnW, and @NCAASoftball — will provide news, game updates, photos and videos throughout the championship. Fans can join the conversation by tagging their tweets with #RoadToWCWSthe Regionals and Super Regionals and then #WCWS during the Women’s College World Series.

Please Note: Networks are likely to change throughout the weekend. For the latest information, please check espnW’sschedule and resultspage.The higher seed in each Super Regional has home/away choice in a decisive, if necessary, Game 3.

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